Biography Isabel Collins

Born in Petaluma, CA on March 6, 1875. Isabel Porter graduated from San Jose Normal School about 1898. After two years at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute, she worked for Shreve & Company for a few years as a pen-and-ink artist for greeting cards, place cards, etc. From Dirk Van Erp she learned coppersmithing and produced lamps, shades, pen trays, and other hammered copper objects. In 1906 she moved across the bay to Sausalito, married Henry Collins, and built a home at 885 Bridgeway. She then taught in the public schools of the San Francisco Bay area until retirement about 1945. Exh: SFAA, 1896, 1901; Calif. State Fair, 1900 (gold medal). In: CHS; CSL.